Georgia State University will set a record for overall enrollment this fall semester, with more than 53,000 students enrolled and with the largest, most qualified and most diverse freshman class in the institution’s history.

Students will come from 49 states and more than 160 nations and territories, also a record. More than 4,600 freshmen will enter the university with a record average high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.53.

Of the freshman class, 36 percent is Black, and the university will set records for the number of Hispanic and Asian students enrolled as freshmen. More than 3,300 freshmen will start this fall at Georgia State’s Perimeter College campuses.

“Together, these 8,000 freshmen will enter Georgia State with the best opportunity in school history to be successful,” said Timothy M. Renick, senior vice president for student success at Georgia State. “They will join a university at which students are graduating at record rates, in record time, and enjoying unprecedented success in careers after graduation.”

The university has set records this year for its graduation rates for bachelor-degree seeking students at the Atlanta campus and associate-degree seeking students at Perimeter College. Since Georgia State’s consolidation with Georgia Perimeter College in 2016, graduation rates at Perimeter College have almost tripled.

During the 2018-19 academic year, Georgia State awarded more than 10,000 degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels for the first time in its history.  The Brookings Institution now ranks Georgia State 25^th in the nation for social mobility – the university’s impact on moving students from lower economic status before enrollment to a higher economic standing post-graduation.

The Honors College at Georgia State is also welcoming is largest freshman class, with 290 first-year students, holding an average high school GPA of 3.88 and SAT score of 1420. Another 316 Georgia State students, with an average college GPA of 3.89, are joining the Honors College this fall.

Among the first-year Honors College students are seven Presidential Scholars, recipients of the university’s most prestigious academic award. The Honors College at Perimeter College has filled more than 1,000 seats at its five campuses across metro Atlanta.